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OET (OET-LV) And who is_ not _taking the stake of_him and is_following after me, is not worthy of_me.
OET (OET-RV) Anyone who doesn’t pick up their own execution post, and carry it as they follow me, is not worthy of being mine.
In this section, Jesus gave various instructions to the twelve apostles. In 10:5–15, he gave them some practical instructions for preaching the good news. In 10:16–33, he described the opposition that they would see when they went out. Lastly, in 10:34–42, he described the commitment required to be a disciple and the reward for being a disciple.
You may want to break this long section into several shorter sections. Here is an example:
Section 10:5–15 | The things the apostles should/must do when sent |
Section 10:16–33 | The difficulties the apostles will face |
Section 10:34–42 | The cost and reward of following Jesus |
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
Jesus gave directions/instructions to the twelve apostles for preaching the gospel
The Mission of the Twelve (GNT)
Instructions for the Twelve Apostles (CEV)
and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me
And the person who is not willing to carry his cross and follow me, I mean to suffer and die for me
If you(sing) are not willing to suffer and even die for me to be my disciple,
and anyone who: As in 10:37a, the words anyone who introduce a statement that is true for everyone. In some languages, it may be natural to introduce this statement with a phrase like “the person who” or with a pronoun like “you.” For example:
The person who does not take his cross
And unless you are willing to take up your cross (CEV)
Those who do not take up their cross (GNT)
does not take up his cross: The phrase take up his cross means “carry his cross.” For example:
Whoever is not willing to carry the cross (NCV)
This phrase refers to the way that Roman soldiers made criminals suffer and die. They forced a condemned criminal to pick up a large wooden cross. He had to carry it to the place where he would be put to death. Carrying a heavy cross was painful. Then the soldiers nailed him on the cross to die.
In this context, Jesus used this phrase figuratively. Jesus meant that anyone who wanted to become his disciple had to be willing to suffer and die. As Jesus was willing to suffer and carry his cross to the place where he died, a believer must also be willing to suffer for Christ even if it means dying.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
Translate the figure of speech literally and add a footnote that explains the meaning. Here is a sample footnote:
In the time of Jesus, a person who was condemned to be nailed to a cross was forced to carry the cross. He carried it to the place where he would be nailed to it. So what Jesus means here is that a person who wants to be his follower must be ready to suffer and die in order to follow Jesus.
Translate the figure of speech and also explain the meaning in the text. For example:
anyone who is not willing to carry his cross, meaning to suffer and die for me
Translate the meaning directly without using a figure of speech. For example:
anyone who is not willing to suffer and even die for me If you follow this option, consider adding a footnote that gives Jesus’ literal words.
follow Me: This phrase refers to being a disciple of Jesus. It does not mean to walk behind Jesus.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
follow me and be my disciple
be my disciple
is not worthy of Me.
does not deserve to be my follower.
you are not fit to be my disciple.
is not worthy of Me: This phrase is the same as the phrase in 10:37b. You should translate it here as you did there.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / doublenegatives
ὃς οὐ λαμβάνει τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκολουθεῖ ὀπίσω μου, οὐκ ἔστιν μου ἄξιος
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὅς οὒ λαμβάνει τόν σταυρόν αὐτοῦ καί ἀκολουθεῖ ὀπίσω μού οὐκ ἐστίν μού ἄξιος)
If it would be clearer in your language, you could use a positive expression to translate this sentence that has two negatives. Alternate translation: [whoever is worthy of me takes up his cross and follows after me]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
οὐ λαμβάνει τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὅς οὒ λαμβάνει τόν σταυρόν αὐτοῦ καί ἀκολουθεῖ ὀπίσω μού οὐκ ἐστίν μού ἄξιος)
Jesus assumes that the disciples will know that the Romans executed some criminals by nailing them to a wooden beam with crossbar that was set upright so that the criminals would slowly suffocate. Jesus also assumes that the disciples will know that the Romans made these criminals carry these wooden crosses through the streets to the place where they were going to be executed. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make some of this information more explicit. Alternate translation: [does not take up the wooden cross on which he will be executed]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
οὐ λαμβάνει τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὅς οὒ λαμβάνει τόν σταυρόν αὐτοῦ καί ἀκολουθεῖ ὀπίσω μού οὐκ ἐστίν μού ἄξιος)
Jesus speaks of taking up a cross in order to describe people who are ready and willing to suffer and even die because they follow Jesus. Because this figure of speech is connected to how Jesus himself died on a cross, if possible you should preserve the metaphor or express the idea in simile form. Alternate translation: [is not ready to suffer, which is like taking up his cross,] or [does not take up his cross, ready to suffer or die,]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations
αὐτοῦ
˱of˲_him
Although the term his is masculine, Jesus is using the word in a generic sense that includes both men and women. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a phrase that makes this clear. Alternate translation: [his or her]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
οὐκ ἔστιν μου ἄξιος
not (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ὅς οὒ λαμβάνει τόν σταυρόν αὐτοῦ καί ἀκολουθεῖ ὀπίσω μού οὐκ ἐστίν μού ἄξιος)
See how you translated the phrase worthy of me in the previous verse. Alternate translation: [does not deserve to be my disciple]
OET (OET-LV) And who is_ not _taking the stake of_him and is_following after me, is not worthy of_me.
OET (OET-RV) Anyone who doesn’t pick up their own execution post, and carry it as they follow me, is not worthy of being mine.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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